Taiwan is bracing for the arrival of Super Typhoon Nepartak, which could slam into the island nation late Thursday or early Friday Taiwan time, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

(That's Thursday morning or afternoon in the U.S.)

Ferocious winds, drenching rain and battering waves are all likely as the storm makes landfall, weather.com reported. Typhoon warnings have been posted for portions of eastern Taiwan, the country's Central Weather Bureau said.

The weather bureau said nearly three feet of rain could drench some parts of Taiwan. This can lead to potentially deadly flash flooding, along with mudslides and rock slides, weather.com warned.

Typhoons are the same types of storms as hurricanes. They're called typhoons west of the International Date Line. Typhoons become Super Typhoons when their sustained winds reach 150 mph, which is equivalent to a strong Category 4 hurricane.

Taiwan's military mobilized thousands of troops, and Premier Lin Chuan was briefed by emergency officials Wednesday as preparations for the oncoming typhoon ramped up, the China Post said.

Lin emphasized that local governments should double-check the operation of water pumping stations and sewage systems to prevent flooding in low-lying urban areas.

Taiwan's Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan was fully confident that Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport would avoid flooding if the typhoon brings torrential rain over the next few days, theTaipei Times reported.

Nepartak is now a Category 5 storm and has sustained winds of 175 mph and gusts up to 207 mph. It's the year's first Category 5 hurricane or typhoon anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, Colorado State University hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach said.

When Nepartak formed Sunday, it ended an all-time record storm drought in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It had been 200 days since a tropical storm or typhoon had formed in that part of the world, according to Colorado State University hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach.

That broke the previous storm-free stretch of 198 days, he said. The North Pacific is the most active ocean for tropical cyclones — hurricanes and typhoons — in the world.

Closer to home, 125-mph Hurricane Blas is spinning harmlessly in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm poses no threat to land and will dissipate far out at sea by the end of the week.

There are no tropical storms or hurricanes anywhere in the Atlantic, and none are expected to form for at least the next two days, the hurricane center said.